Title: Still Alice
Author: Lisa Genova
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, London
Publication date: 2007
Genre: Fiction
Reviewer: Hayley Martell
Still Alice reads like a memoir, however, is a novel written by American neuroscientist, Lisa Genova.
The protagonist, Alice Howland is a world-renowned professor in cognitive psychology at Harvard University.
She finds herself starting to lose her mind, literally.
She forgets why she walked into a room, loses her place while teaching her classes, winds up lost on her run and forgets a recipe for a dessert she’s made for years.
After deliberation she decides to make an appointment with her doctor who runs a series of tests, and she is finally diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s.
Alice is 50.
This book chronicles Alice’s decline over the course of a few years.
I found this story so heartbreaking, but at the same time beautiful.
It is written from Alice’s perspective, so we read it from the mind of the patient, not a family member who’s watching on.
This book takes you on a journey through the trials and troubles of a person going through Alzheimer’s; the fears and dread of waking up one day not being able to recognize yourself, your husband, your children.
Throughout the story we see how Alice creates ways to help herself remember, including being given a DVD with messages on it not only from her family, but from herself and a daily test to see if she remembers her address, the current month, and her children’s names.
Still Alice is an emotional rollercoaster of a read, however it was so beautifully written I couldn’t put it down and would encourage anyone to read it.
Now I’m off to watch the film to see how it translates.
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